My thoughts on the Phillies season.

Jamie Moyer and the bullpen four hit the Padres as Pat Burrell hit a solo run that would give the Phillies a 1-0 win.

Jamie Moyer would pitch seven scoreless inning of three hit ball while the bullpen trio of Ryan Madson, J.C. Romero and Brad Lidge would give the Padres only one more hit, while Pat Burrell would hit a solo home run off of Padres’ starter Greg Maddux to give the Phillies a 1-0 victory. The game for the first six innings would be a pitchers’ duel between two veteran pitchers, Moyer and Maddux, two of the three veteran pitchers still left from the Draft Class of 1984. Maddux would get himself out of a two men on, one men out, Phils’ threat in the top of the second by getting Eric Bruntlett to pop out and Carlos Ruiz to fly out. Moyer would get himself out of a jam of his own in the Padres’ sixth, when, with runners on first and third, and two outs, he would get Kevin Kouzmanoff to ground out, first baseman to the pitcher, for the final out. Then in the seventh, Pat Burrell would knock in the game’s only run as he would hit his third career home run off of Maddux, his twenty-eighth home run of the year, to give the Philles a 1-0 lead. In the Padres’ seventh, after giving up a lead-off single to Andrian Gonzalez, Moyer would get Chase Headley to line out to third, Tadahito Iguchi to line out to right and Nick Hundley to pop out to third, to end the inning and his night on the mound. The Phillies would then threathen to add to their lead in both the eighth and ninth innings, but they would be turned away in both innings by the Padres’ bullpen. The Padres would, in the meantime, get a runner on base with two outs in their own half of the eighth, but J.C. Romero, pitching in relief of Ryan Madson, who, in turrn, has been pitching in relief of Moyer, would end the inning by getting Brian Giles to ground out to Ryan Howard, who would just beat Giles to the bag for the final out. Brad Lidge would then come in to pitch the ninth and would record a 1-2-3 inning, to end the ballgame with his twenty-ninth save of the year.

Jamie Moyer would get the victory as he would pitch seven strong innings of shutout ball, giving up only three hits and walking only two batters as he constantly got ahead of the hitters. His record is now 11-7 with a 3.76 ERA. Ryan Madson would pitch two-thirds of an inning, giving up no runs on one hit. J.C. Romero would pitch a third of an inning, getting out the only man he would face. Brad Lidge would record his twenty-ninth save in twenty-nine attempts as he would pitch a 1-2-3 inning, strking out two. Greg Maddux would get the lost, as he also pitched seven innings, giving up an earned run, Pat Burrell’s solo home run, on five hits. His record is now 6-9 with a 3.99 ERA. Justin Hampson would face only one batter who would get on base on a throwing error. Mike Adams would pitch a third of an inning, giving up no runs on one hit. Wilfredo Ledezma would pitch two thirds of an inning, giving up no runs on no hits, while striking out two. Clay Hensley would pitch a scoreless inning, giving up no hits as he struck out the side.

The Phillies’ offense, in spite of Pat Burrell’s home run, is still not scoring runs when they need to. If not for Jamie Moyer’s pitching and some spectacular plays that were made in the field by both Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard, the Phillies would probably be trying to avoid six loses in a row instead of trying for a series win this upcoming Saturday night.

The Phillies (65-57) will continue their three games series with the Padres (47-75, 5th National League West) tonight. The game will be played at PETCO Park and will start at 10:05 pm Eastern (7:05 pm Pacific). The Phillies’ starter will be Kyle Kendrick (10-6, 4.74), who is coming off a recent disastrous start against the Dodgers on August 11, where he would only go three and a thirds innings, giving up seven earned runs on nine hits, in the Phillies’ 8-6 lost. He will be trying once again for his eleventh win, while hoping to both bounce back from his previous start and for the Phillies’ bat to wake up. The Padres’ starter, although announced, has not yet been listed, as the original starter, Chris Young, has just been placed on the disabled list by the Padres.

The Phillies are still trailing the Mets by a game, as they defeated the Pirates. They are ahead of the Marlins by two and a half games, as they’d lost to the Cubs. The Phillies will be trying to get a series win while still waiting for the offense to finally wake up.

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